1. Field of the Disclosure
The disclosure is directed to devices and methods for the preparation of one or more intervertebral discs as part of a surgical procedure to treat, for example, damage to the discs.
2. Related Art
A “discectomy” procedure removes the nucleus pulposus from an intervertebral disc to relieve pain and/or prepare the vertebrae for a fusion procedure. Many tools exist for performing this procedure, but most of these are manual tools. Moreover, fewer than 5% of discectomies are performed with power tools. The use of power tools may speed the procedure, thereby reducing injury to surrounding tissues and shortening the post-operative recovery period.
Arthroscopic shavers have been used for discectomies, but they are prone to clogging and are unable to properly prepare vertebral endplates for fusion. RF energy devices have been developed but are relatively slow and can burn tissue. High pressure water jet devices have been developed, but they require a cumbersome and expensive external pump for operation. Battery powered auger devices for removing 2 cc of nucleus material are available, but they cannot remove enough material for fusion procedure. Accordingly, there is a need for a tool that does not clog and removes a sufficient amount of material.
Similarly, the use of any power tool may be hampered when working on a disc that has collapsed due to, e.g., disc herniation or degenerative disc disease. When the disc has collapsed, the adjacent vertebrae are closer together and may not provide the minimum height needed to operate a power tool. Inflatable bone tamps are available to increase the space between the vertebrae, but existing tamps are not compatible with power tools. In particular, inflatable tamps block or restrict access to disc material that is immediately distal to the tamp's balloon, as well as other areas. Accordingly, there is a need for a bone tamp that is compatible with power tools used to perform a discectomy.